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Kathryn Otoshi is an award-winning author, illustrator, and speaker best known for her groundbreaking picture books that blend powerful social messages with vibrant visual storytelling. Her acclaimed titles, including One, Zero, and Two, have garnered numerous accolades and are widely used in schools and homes to spark conversations about character development, inclusion, and emotional literacy. With a background in design and film, Otoshi brings a unique sensitivity to her work, crafting stories that are both visually striking and deeply meaningful. She is passionate about empowering children to embrace their individuality, stand up for others, and find strength in kindness. Otoshi lives in Temecula, California, where she continues to create stories that open hearts and minds.
The illustrations are a potent mix of ethereal beauty and narrative strength. The opening spreads, with icy blue figures against a stark white background, frame the title raven in negative space, emphasizing its difference from the rest of its family. After it is cast out by the flock, details of the bird's body and face emerge, clearly communicating its grief and loneliness. But hope comes with the arrival of a kind and sympathetic girl, and here the book truly shines and brings its message most effectively to life. * School Library Journal * Assonance propels rhythmic narration in Otoshi's concept-driven story about a white raven. Interrogative lines frame each spread, with a pointed initial question providing a jumping-off point for deeper rumination: ""If a raven is born different,/ what could happen?"" Alongside fluid azure paintings, the queries trace the sorrowful possibility of rejection by other ravens (""Will its mother PROTECT it.../ or REJECT it?""). But the tone shifts to one of gentle hopefulness upon the arrival of a pale-skinned, dark-haired child who brings a palette of pinks and yellows to the page, as well as openhearted concern for the abandoned bird (""Will she HELP it.../ or TEASE it?""). And as the driving questions become loftier (""Can fears be overcome.../ through understanding and LOVE?""), the bird's upward flight seems to provide an uplifting answer for readers to hold onto. An author's note anchors the story in scientific fact * Publishers Weekly *
